The dao5 project offers an innovative approach to crypto and blockchain investing, merging traditional venture financing methods with decentralized governance principles. Rather than relying on a closed, centralized structure, dao5 aims to build an open ecosystem where the community plays an active role in capital management, project selection, and strategic direction. This approach redefines what a venture fund can be in the Web3 era.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Principles and Values of dao5
- Investment Funds and Strategy
- dao5's Technological Portfolio
- Transition to DAO and Governance
- Conclusion
1. Introduction
dao5 is an experimental crypto venture fund founded in 2022 by Tekin Salimi, a former partner at Polychain Capital. The project aims to evolve from a traditional venture model into a fully decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), where decision-making power is distributed across token holders.
The ultimate goal of dao5 is not just to allocate capital to promising Web3 startups, but to foster a living ecosystem where governance and responsibility are shared. In this model, investment becomes a tool for empowering community participants who collectively shape the direction and values of the organization. dao5 poses a bold question: can a DAO replace a venture fund — and proposes a clear path toward that future.
2. Principles and Values of dao5
dao5 is built on a philosophy that merges decentralization, economic fairness, and strategic simplicity. Unlike traditional funds that prioritize control and returns, dao5 focuses on building a sustainable, value-driven ecosystem. Five core principles define how the fund operates and engages with founders and community members:
- Incentive Alignment: Every funded founder receives a grant in DAO5 tokens, aligning long-term interests between investors and builders. This model fosters loyalty and shared success.
- Meritocracy: Any community member who brings valuable investment ideas can be rewarded based on the actual value their input creates. Talent and results take priority over titles.
- Privacy and Anonymity: dao5 supports pseudonymous collaboration and backs founders who choose to remain anonymous — honoring digital privacy, especially critical in the Web3 space.
- Dunbar’s Number: dao5 limits the size of its core contributor base to foster trust and effective decision-making, prioritizing quality over scale in governance dynamics.
- Occam’s Razor: Simplicity is a core design principle. The fund avoids unnecessary hierarchy and complex processes, favoring clear, transparent operations.
These principles form a distinct cultural foundation that sets dao5 apart from other DAOs and traditional VCs. By emphasizing sustainability, trust, and transparency, the project aims to create a more inclusive and effective investment ecosystem.
3. Investment Funds and Strategy
dao5’s financial strategy reflects its commitment to transformative technologies and long-term structural shifts in Web3. In April 2025, the project announced the close of its second fund, raising $222 million — bringing total assets under management to $550 million.
The fund’s philosophy centers on the convergence of blockchain and artificial intelligence, targeting projects that redefine how data, digital rights, and infrastructure are built and governed.
Key investment areas include:
- Berachain — A modular EVM-compatible blockchain integrating AI and privacy-preserving smart contracts.
- Bittensor — A decentralized machine learning network where nodes are rewarded for contributing to model training, forming a distributed AI economy.
- EigenLayer — A restaking protocol allowing Ethereum stakers to secure new networks, enhancing decentralized trust and economic efficiency.
- Story Protocol — A Web3 platform for managing digital intellectual property, enabling creators to license and monetize content on-chain.
These projects reflect dao5’s strategy of supporting foundational technologies that can reshape the digital economy. The fund acts not as a speculative vehicle but as a long-term ecosystem builder.
4. dao5's Technological Portfolio
dao5 has backed more than 50 projects since inception, spanning infrastructure, decentralized AI, and digital IP management. Below is an overview of key projects that illustrate the breadth and depth of its investment strategy:
| Project | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Berachain | Blockchain + AI | A next-gen EVM-compatible blockchain focused on privacy and AI-enhanced smart contracts. |
| Bittensor | Decentralized AI | An open neural network protocol that rewards participants for training machine learning models. |
| EigenLayer | Restaking Infrastructure | A protocol enabling restaking of ETH to secure new networks and services without duplicating tokenomics. |
| Story Protocol | Digital IP | A Web3-native framework for managing, licensing, and monetizing digital intellectual property. |
Each of these projects illustrates that dao5’s investment strategy is driven not only by the pursuit of profit, but also by a commitment to building sustainable and scalable solutions. The portfolio spans critical areas such as decentralized artificial intelligence, cross-network consensus, the legalization of digital creativity, and next-generation blockchain infrastructure.
This selection of investments confirms that dao5 operates as an intelligent venture fund, actively shaping the technological landscape of Web3 and contributing to the growth of a truly global decentralized ecosystem.
5. Transition to DAO and Governance
One of dao5’s key strategic goals is its full transformation into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). This shift goes far beyond a mere legal restructuring — it represents a fundamental rethinking of governance and responsibility distribution.
Upon completion of the transition phase, dao5 plans to issue its native DAO5 tokens, which will be distributed among the investment team, advisory council, and the founders of portfolio projects. This distribution will lay the foundation for a decentralized governance model, where all participants are directly aligned with the ecosystem’s growth.
A portion of the fund’s capital will be moved to an on-chain treasury governed by token holders through a transparent voting mechanism. This structure ensures that key decisions — including funding, strategic initiatives, and protocol direction — are made collectively by the community.
In doing so, dao5 aims not just for formal decentralization, but for the creation of a viable and adaptive model of collective governance that reflects the core values of Web3 and enhances meaningful participation across its ecosystem.
6. Conclusion
dao5 represents a unique convergence of venture finance and decentralized coordination. With its focus on emerging technologies and Web3 principles, it offers a compelling blueprint for the future of crypto-native investment models.
By integrating blockchain infrastructure, token-based governance, and AI-driven protocols, dao5 goes beyond being just a fund — it becomes a self-sustaining ecosystem shaped by its participants. This model fosters transparency, inclusivity, and long-term value creation.
As interest in DAOs and decentralized investment frameworks continues to grow, dao5 is already showing what a new kind of investment community can look like — flexible, open, and collectively governed.
